The Come Up: Isaiah Rashad

Isaiah Rashad: Growing up in Chattanooga, Tennessee is probably as normal as it is growing up in Oregon. It’s the same as anywhere else, coming out [to Los Angeles] really help me see that. The people that I am surrounded by remind me the most of the people I was around from where I am from—like my family. In comparison, it feels a lot the same. It wasn’t like a crazy adjustment coming here. It was like moving into another house with my family.

Music has always been around me. It’s not like a small town living type thing [Laughs]. You know what I mean? It’s not like that. I don’t know every one of my neighbors’ type of thing. It’s a city. So, there’s a lot of music there. A lot of jazz. We got a big festival that happens every year [called] the Riverbend Festival. It’s like two weeks of music. I grew up on music. I grew up on all kinds of music. OutKast, I am close to Atlanta, so if you are close to Atlanta than I’m close to Nashville. Two really big cities of music, so growing up in Chattanooga, it’s just like a known part of a whole bunch of sounds. It wasn’t being underexposed or anything.